Set five years after the events of 'Daughter of Darkness', the ruling family of Regnum Infernale receive a peculiar visitation from their distant past. The visitors urge them to undergo a dangerous magical feat that could change their world forever...
The plan to subdue Anathem and perform the identity spell on him was all that was going to be planned for, as far as Melanie knew. In the same breath, Elijah knew he needed to fix the flow of time by travelling back to 2015 and killing his own father. He did not have as many reservations about the endeavor, as he traveled back to 1995 just hours before to save Selena Quintanilla-Perez from being shot by Yolanda Saldivar, killing the latter instead. He was disheartened to realize that while he prolonged her natural life by twenty-four years and hopefully gave it meaning, it was very likely that she died in the blasts of the apocalypse.
When Elijah returned to the royal suite with the four witches he brought to the mortal coil, he alerted Melanie that the plan needed to be enacted immediately. So, they called for the Agricultural Center to slaughter a live goat and take from it its organs to use for their meals, and their cooks prepared something else for the witches, as they were dinner guests not keen on semi-raw offal. For the occasion, a fine red wine was taken from their private reserves and served. Elijah was at one head of the royal table, while Anathem was at the other. Melanie, Desdemona, and Mallory were on one side of the table, while Cordelia, Myrtle and Madison were seated on the other side. Of course, before serving the food, Anathem's plate was set aside specifically, and Myrtle was the one left with the task of putting a single drop of Vatican holy water in his food and also his wine once it was specially poured. Luckily, the Prince came out last to eat. He had a strange, smug look on his face, especially looking at his family members, as he sat down. He picked up his fork, but found himself fiddling with his food.
"Eat, Anathem. It'll start to rot," Elijah said.
Suddenly, he saw his son sniffing and grimacing, also distracting the witches from their food. They looked at him, and Cordelia just looked at the King with a worried look. Anathem smelled the meat and then his wine, catching nothing but a foul stench from each. He took the wine glass up to his nose and inhaled, retching right then and there as he put it down. He shook his head, but Melanie was not amused at his behavior even though she knew full well that he was now aware of the plan.
"Eat! You're making a scene!" she told her son.
"It reeks of piety!" he growled, looking at his father as his eyes suddenly turned pitch black. "I'm not an idiot, Father. I know why these cows are here, and I know what you plan to do with me. You think you can just disinherit me, your only true heir, for her?!" He pointed to Desdemona, whose eyes were wide with confusion; damn it, she thought, he knows. I didn't tell him or anything.
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Anathem rose from his seat, as did Elijah, facing him like it was a man-to-man talk from the other end of the table. The King was truly fearsome in that moment: "Anathem, you are an absolute disgrace! You may have been our firstborn, but you are not fit for the throne. I have seen firsthand the RUIN and DESTRUCTION you will bring to this kingdom. I will do all in my power and will, to ensure that you never, and I mean EVER take our place when we are gone!"
